Ziannah
by becca4264
Summary: When the USS Reagan crashes on a planet, both the Enterprise and an alien ship respond. When they meet, it becomes apparent that not everyone on the Enterprise is who they seem. The question is, can the Enterprise survive the deception? This assumes Journey's End never happened and Wesley Crusher completed his time at the academy. Please review! I welcome any commentary! Complete.
1. Chapter 1: Tregedy

**I do not own these characters. This story assumes that "Journey's End" never happened and that Wesley Crusher finished his time at the academy. This story also somewhat extends the **_**Enterprise's**_** mission.**

"Captain's Log, Star Date 56461.7. The _Enterprise_ is responding to a distress signal from our sister ship, the USS _Reagan_, which we received an hour ago. Supposedly, they were on a routine surveying mission in the uncharted Amari Sector, studying a recently discovered Class M planet there called Tarensa 8. The signal ceased abruptly thirty - seven minutes ago, leaving me worried that some catastrophe has befallen the vessel. They have not responded to our hails since."

"Riker to Captain Picard."

"Yes Number One?"

"Sir, we're approaching the last known coordinates of the _Reagan_. We will be arriving in under five minutes."

"On my way," Picard stated curtly. He closed the book he was reading, an antique version of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, and placed it on his desk. He sighed deeply. He had a pressing feeling that this mission was not going to end well. He rose to his feet and strode out of his ready room and onto the bridge. "Any sign of the _Reagan_ Ensign…" He trailed off. He didn't know the name of the woman at the helm. He'd seen her before and knew he'd looked over her service record but he couldn't recall her name. She had extraordinarily long golden blonde hair that fell in waves almost touching the floor. "I'm sorry but I don't believe I know your name."

She turned, staring at him with dazzling blue eyes contrasted nicely against a lightly tanned face. "Ensign Tia Mareña Sir." she smiled nervously, reveling equally as dazzling white teeth. Her hands fidgeted in her lap.

"Ah, yes. Well, any sign of the _Reagan_ Ensign Mareña?"

"Not around the planet Sir, no. But I am scanning the planet's surface now for signs of wreckage." After a brief pause," There is some sort of ship on the surface Captain, Federation Star Ship… galaxy class… It's the _Reagan_, Sir."

The captain pressed his comm badge. "Doctor Crusher."

"Yes Captain?"

"The _Reagan_ has crash landed on the planet's surface. Be prepared for incoming casualties."

"We'll be ready Captain," Doctor Crusher responded.

"Number One prepare an away team to search for survivors," the captain said. "And let's hope there are many."

"Yes Captain. Worf, Geordi you're with me." Commander Riker pressed his comm badge. "Doctor Crusher, Data, meet us in transporter room four."

The doctor and Data were both waiting for them when they arrived in the transporter room.

"Chief, beam us directly onto the bridge," Commander Riker ordered tensely has the five stepped onto the transporter pad. Mentally, he had prepared himself for what he was about to find. The ship had crash landed on a planet. There would be injuries and many, many dead. Emotionally however… he knew there were children and civilians on that ship, just as there was on the _Enterprise_. And he knew that not all of them could have survived the crash and whatever had caused it. He took a deep breath. "Energize," he said tersely.

They rematerialized on the bridge of the _Reagan_. The lights flickered and fires burned weakly in many of the control panels. There were several holes in the hull, out of which Riker could see the lush, green landscape of the planet. Beams were falling from the ceiling. There were bodies on the ground. The two helmsmen leaned collapsed over their stations, either dead or unconscious. He hoped for the latter. Doctor Crusher rushed from body to body, scanning for life signs but finding none.

"They're all dead Commander," she said grimly after a few minutes. Riker's lips pressed firmly into a thin line and his brow furrowed.

"Geordi, try to get power back online and recover anything that may tell us what happened here. Data, Worf, check and see if the hull is stable. I want to bring a proper search team down here. We can't cover the whole ship ourselves."

"Aye Sir," Worf responded and the three split off in their respective directions.

"Commander," Doctor Crusher spoke up eagerly," I'm reading life signs behind these doors," indicating the conference room off the bridge," They're weak and unstable but there."

"Data can you get these doors open?" Riker asked.

"I can try Sir," Data said as he slid the doors open effortlessly. The doctor rushed in. There were three bodies on the ground. She scanned the first with her tricorder and shook her head. Then she scanned the other two.

"These two are alive but just barely. They've both lost a lot of blood. I need to get them to sick bay," she said. Riker nodded. "_Enterprise_, three to beam directly to sick bay."

"Energizing," a disembodied voice said. The doctor and the two victims vanished in a flash of light. The lights on the ship came on at almost the same time. The red alert sirens rang out and the bridge was bathed in a deep crimson light.

"What's the status Geordi?" Riker asked, walking over to the bridge engineering station near the rear turbolift, stepping over dead bodies in his path.

"They were attacked by something. Something strong enough that it was able to force them into the planet's atmosphere. The gravitational pull caused the crash landing."

"Do you have a visual?"

"Not a very good one but yes." Geordi said, typing commands into the computer consul. An extremely blurry picture appeared on the screen.

"The quality is horrible. The ship just looks like a big green blob."

"I can try to clear it up Commander but I can't guarantee anything and I can't do it from down here."

"Return to the ship and see what you can do." Riker ordered.

"Aye Sir." Geordi pressed his comm badge. "_Enterprise_, one to beam up." Geordi also vanished in a bright flash of light.

"Data, will the hull hold if we get search and medical teams down here?" Riker asked, walking over to Data at the science station.

"Yes Sir. I see no immediate threat of collapse."

"Alright, lets see who we can get down here." Riker said.


	2. Chapter 2: Revelation

"Captain's Log, supplemental. We've been in orbit around Tarensa 8 for six hours now. Search and medical teams have completely searched thirty - seven out of forty - two decks of the _Reagan _and found 156 survivors, over half of which are in critical condition. There were 1,050 people on that ship. Commander LaForge is working on the video of the attack vessel but has had no luck on boosting the quality. The information was just too damaged in the attack. Some of the conscious survivors of the attack have described a giant, green, winged vessel that seemly came out of nowhere. Apparently, the whole attack lasted only a few minutes. There are no signs of any vessel within sensor range."

The red alert siren broke through the Captain's thoughts and he jumped to his feet, heart sinking. Could it be the same ship that attacked the _Reagan_? The Enterprise had the exact same defenses as the _Reagan_. Anything that could bring the_ Reagan_ down that quickly could do the same to the _Enterprise_. He strode quickly out of his ready room and onto the bridge, with his practiced, calm exterior.

"Report," he demanded.

"There is a vessel approaching Captain," Worf said urgently," it fits the description of the ship that attacked the _Reagan_ only it's not green it's… gold."

"On viewer." The vessel was displayed across the view screen on the front wall of the bridge. An extremely large, gold ship was approaching at a remarkable speed. It had two "wings" that flapped up and down slowly, appearing to propel it through space. Only the "wings" were moving far to slow to propel the ship at anything approaching the speed it was traveling. He looked down at Counselor Troi. "Do you sense anything from them Counselor?"

"No Sir. Nothing. They still may be to far away," she responded, clearly distracted and staring intently at the back of Ensign Mareña's head with a bemused expression on her face.

Picard chose to disregard her bizarre behavior for the moment in sight of the more pressing situation. "Open hailing frequencies Mr. Worf," Picard ordered. He turned to the viewer. "I am Captain Jean - Luc Picard of the Federation star ship _Enterprise_. Representing the United Federation of Planets. Please identify yourselves."

A young man appeared on the screen at the center of what appeared to be their bridge. His long, dark hair framed a flawless, handsome, slightly tanned face. His eyes were a deep, piercing blue that Picard could practically feel boring into his soul. He was dressed in shimmering robes, glowing the same gold color of the ship. The most distinctive feature that Picard could see were the two large, feathered wings folded behind the man's back. "'Ello Captain Picard of the United Federation of Planets," he said with a grin, but his face quickly returned to seriousness. "I'm Captain Tonrei. I represent the Nebulan Empire… Which you, of course, have never heard of. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

"Ah, so you know about our sister ship on the planet."

"Yes Captain and we are truly sorry about that. We also received their transmission and we got here as soon as we could but our ship can only move so fast."

"Do you know what attacked her?" Picard asked.

"Sadly yes. They're our enemy, not yours and I do not know what prompted them to attack one of your ships. I don't know why they're out here. They're an awfully long way from their home. My best guess was that they were coming after us and your ship got in the way." There was a loud thunk from somewhere out of sight. "You alright Tora?"

"Yes fine," a girl grumbled, standing up and rubbing her head. "Just hit my head… hard. Ow." But Picard didn't hear her answer. Nor did anyone else on the bridge. Because the girl who had just stood up looked _exactly_ like Ensign Tia Mareña, only with wings.

"Damn," Tia whispered under her breath. Up until that point, she'd successfully kept her face hidden behind a veil of her own hair, pretending that see was making adjustments on the consul. But there wasn't a point anymore. She looked up. Tonrei's mouth dropped open. Tora grabbed his chair to steady herself and yet still looked like she was about to fall over.

"Oh dear gods," Tonrei whispered.

"Hey Tony," Tia said awkwardly.


	3. Chapter 3: Deception

"We thought you were dead!" Tony shouted at Tia furiously, standing, hands tensed on the table. He looked like he was about to hit her. "Do you know what we went through to try to find you?"

Tia sat rubbing her temples with her hands, staring down at the table. "I'm sorry," she repeated again. They were in the conference room. Tony and Tora had beamed over immediately upon their discovery of Tia, bringing with them two fairly unusual looking animals. It had taken some distinct efforts to convince them to remove themselves from the bridge to the conference room. Tony was almost irrational with anger. Tora hadn't said a thing since appearing on the ship. She sat, staring at her hands folded in her lap, and hadn't even looked a Tia. Picard was sitting at the head of the table, with Troi to one side of him and Riker on the other.

"Alright that's enough," Picard barked. Tony fell silent and slowly sat down, glowering at Tia. "Now, please explain what the hell is going on here."

"I'm sorry Captain. When I joined Starfleet, I knew one day you'd make first contact with the Nebulans, but I didn't expect it to be so soon." Tia began.

"Obviously _they_ wanted us to find you," Tony interrupted.

"Who wanted you to find her?" The captain asked.

"Our gods…" Tony began.

"God means something different to them than it does to us," Tia broke in, looking up from the table. "Our "gods" aren't really "gods" per se. They are immensely, if not all, powerful alien beings that call themselves the Arbitrators. They exist in a time bubble universe two milliseconds out of sync with our own. We don't know how many there are but at least seven of them have direct influence over us. They chose our leaders by endowing them with powers similar to their own. They send us prophecies to aid us in our decisions and we suspect that they have directly influenced certain events in our history. So while when you hear "God" you think of an all powerful _deity_, when we say "god" we are referring to these _alien beings_."

"And they've chosen her to be Ziannah," Tony said, pointing violently at Tia.

"Yes, technically I am supposed to be leading the Nebulan Empire. My title is Ziannah," Tia whispered.

"She's not just supposed to be leading us. She's the most powerful person on our planet. She was chosen by the leader our g… of the Arbitrators."

"Let's start at the beginning shall we?" Picard probed.

"My name is Tehera Marenna. I do go by Tia. Thirteen years ago, when I was ten, there was a major attack on our planet by the same people who destroyed the _Reagan_. We were caught completely off guard. The Minems, that's what they call themselves, injected some sort of device into our planet's core that caused extreme geological instability. In the ensuing panic, all of our council leaders were killed. All seven of them. They were in the same room, which happens very very rarely. They were in the first building to be hit in the attack, which was probably not a coincidence. We fought them off but were forced to evacuate the planet. There were five other planets in our solar system that were already settled and so we went there. But we had no government except for five terrified little kids, including myself. We weren't supposed to take over the government until our fifties. Two of us hadn't even been born yet and the youngest two of us were four. The oldest was twelve. As I have said, I was ten and I was not only expected to rule the empire, but to oversee the other kids who were expected to rule the empire. I lasted five years. Five years of advisors coming to me and trying to explain financial problems, military decisions, trade agreements, and so on in terms that a child could understand. They all failed. Finally they'd give up and tell me what they recommended and I'd simply agree. They could have run the empire into the ground and I would have had no idea. By that time the other two leaders, Aspen and Zoen had been born and identified. We were never allowed to be together and we were kept on moving ships. Mine was attacked. Once again we fought them off but our ship was so damaged we had to evacuate. My caretaker stole a shuttle craft and we escaped together. She died of her injuries. I could pilot a shuttle well enough at that point so I flew to Federation space and landed on Kelana 4. I snuck into a colony and said I moved from another colony on the planet. I forged my records, lived there for three years and went to Starfleet Academy at the age of eighteen," Tia finished.

"You forged the records you used to get into Starfleet Academy," Riker confirmed, skeptically. "No one saw through that? How'd you get past the medical exam?"

"Your instruments are really not that hard to fool…" Tia trailed off meekly.

"Now, they have wings, why don't you have wings?" Riker asked.

"I do have wings…" The air around her seem to shimmer for a moment and wings appeared behind her. "I have been telepathically altering your perception of me."

"So you are telepathic?" Troi inquired.

"Yes, our entire species is telepathic. And yes, I have been altering your empathic perception of me as well."

"You must be extremely powerful telepaths in order to do that," Troi said.

"Yes."

"And no one knew?" Riker questioned.

"Well… um… I wouldn't say no one… Exactly…" Tia stammered.

"Who?" Picard demanded.

She went back to rubbing her temples and staring down at the table. "Ensign Wesley Crusher. I told him six months before graduation. He's the only one."


	4. Chapter 4: Discovery

Picard pressed his comm badge. "Ensign Crusher report to the conference room," Picard said.

"On my way Captain," Wesley said through the comm link. It took him less than a minute to get to the conference room. Tia looked up at him.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed. He nodded at her reassuringly and straightened up.

"Yes Captain," he said.

"Did you know about this?"

"Yes Sir. I did know."

"So you told your boyfriend all about you but didn't feel like telling your damn family you were alive?" Tony's voice elevated to a shout.

"Language Tony," Tora chastised.

"Oh now you speak! Do you seriously have nothing to say to her?" Tony demanded. A blue, monkey-like creature with spiny projections sticking out of its back and head scampered across the floor and sunk it's tiny teeth into Tony's leg.

"Davin stop it," Tora said, smiling slightly. The animal looked at her reproachfully. "I know he's being a jerk but that isn't an excuse to bite him. We talked about this. No biting. Come back here." The animal scurried back to her. Riker and Picard exchanged confused glances as Tora looked back at her brother. "You don't get to talk to me like that," she said sharply. "Of course I have things to say to her but this is hardly the place. Screaming at her solves nothing."

"It makes me feel better," Tony muttered through gritted teeth.

"Alright we've heard enough," Picard spoke up, standing. "It seems you have plenty to work out, as do we."

"I can take them to my quarters Captain," Tia said. Picard nodded.

"Do that. Dismissed. You stay Ensign Crusher."

"Yes Captain." Tia, Tora and Tony walked out of the room. Picard pressed his comm badge. "Lieutenant Worf, assign a security team outside Ensign Tia Mareña's quarters. Don't detain them there just monitor them."

"Aye Sir."

"Counselor, what do you sense from them?" Picard asked.

"Well they all seem very open with their emotions. Captain Tonrei is furious with Ensign Mareña but relieved to see her alive, Tora has so many conflicting emotions its hard to make sense of them. And Ensign Mareña happy to see her brother and sister but terrified she's going to taken back and forced to lead the empire again. But I don't know if I can trust what I am feeling from them."

"Oh?" Picard asked.

"When Ensign Mareña came aboard, I sensed no deception from her. And considering the size of this lie I find it hard to believe that she felt nothing as a result. When the other ship appeared on the viewer I felt a moment of panic from her but it quickly changed back to tranquility. The telepathic skill required for that is astounding. No Betazoid has ever achieved completely hiding their emotions from another empath, yet alone creating false ones. If Ensign Mareña is able to do this, I assume the others are able to do it to."

The three senior officers turned to Wesley who stood passively at the other end of the table. "Sit down Ensign," Picard ordered angrily. "You knew about this and you told no one?" Wesley sat down next to Troi.

"Yes Sir."

"Why?" Riker demanded. "Wesley, you have such a promising career ahead of you. You worked so hard for this. Why risk it like this?"

"If I felt she posed a threat to security…" Wesley started.

"She was messing with our minds!" Riker's voice elevated slightly and he slammed his fist on the table.

"I knew I could trust her absolutely and I knew what she would be going back to should she ever be found."

"Ensign… You've put yourself in a very compromising position."

"Yes Captain. I understand that Sir."

"Well then. How much do you know about the… um…"

"The Nebulans Sir," Wesley prompted. "I know a lot but I believe Tia would probably be a better resource than I. I'm sure she'll cooperate completely."

Picard sighed and he stared at the table, troubled. "Return to your post Ensign. But expect to be called again," Picard ordered.

"Yes Sir." Wesley walked out.

Picard opened his mouth to speak but the red alert sirens cut him off.


	5. Chapter 5: Attack

Picard, Riker and Troi walked out onto the bridge. "Report," Riker demanded.

"We've just received a distress call from a science outpost in the Maltana system. They're under attack by a large green ship," Worf reported. Riker pressed his comm badge.

"Ensign Marenna, Captain Tonrei to the bridge," he said.

"On our way."

"Worf, transmit the coordinates of the science station to the Nebulan ship. Ask them to assist us. Data how fast can we get there at warp seven?" Picard demanded.

"Twenty - three minutes and thirty - four seconds Sir," Data calculated.

"Set a course for the outpost, warp eight," Picard ordered. "Engage." The stars on the view screen blurred to streaks as the Enterprise accelerated.

"Data, what's the defense capability of the science outpost?" Riker inquired.

"Five photon torpedoes Sir." Riker and Picard exchanged looks.

"Increase speed to warp nine," Picard said. Data complied. The turbolift doors slid open and the Nebulans stepped onto the bridge. Tora and Tony were each accompanied by their respective animals, but now Ensign Marenna was accompanied by a wolf like creature. Ensign Marenna relieved the helmsman.

"What's going on?" Tony asked.

"A Federation science station at the edge of this system is under attack. The ship's description matches that of the ship that attacked the _Reagan_," Riker informed him. Tony looked taken aback.

"That doesn't make any… What are they doing?" He asked under his breath. "Do my people know?" Tony asked Riker. Riker looked back at Worf.

"They've confirmed the coordinates and said that they'll go ahead," Worf told them.

"What's our ETA Mr. Data?" Picard asked.

"Ten minutes and fifty - five seconds Sir." The bridge was tense. No one knew what they would find and everyone knew the fate of the _Reagan_.

"Anything you can tell us now would be greatly appreciated Captain," Picard said to Tony.

"Stay away from the planet's atmosphere. One of their favorite tactics is to push a ship into a planet's atmosphere and let gravity do the work. It easier to do with your ship than ours. Their weakest point is the bottom of the ship. But they know that so it's hard as hell to get under them. They're brute force people. They aren't going to try big tricks. They're going to hit you with everything they've got and they're going to do it fast. Since they don't use tricks they have a hard time anticipating them so if you have anything fun up your sleeve I'd recommend using it," Tony advised.

"Don't bother trying to reason with them. It wastes time and leaves us vulnerable and makes us look weak. Strike first and do as much damage as possible because once they hit us it's going to cause serious damage. Their weapons are more powerful than you're used to. They're not as powerful as the Borg but they're more powerful than ours. Do absolutely everything to keep the shields up. Once the shields are down, we'll be boarded. They're like Klingons in that once they've boarded a ship they don't like to use energy weapons. Instead they use knives and ornate swords. Most of the knives inject poison when stabbed straight into the body. Very few of the swords do that. A few of the swords, for upper level officers, will electrocute the victim when stabbed into the body. They don't care whether their victims are men, women, or children. It'll be an absolute bloodbath," Tia spoke up from her place at the helm.

"Mr. Data, stand by for emergency saucer separation. Lieutenant Martez, you have command of the saucer section. I want a majority of security in the drive section." There was a complete bridge crew turn over. Troi, Worf, Riker, Data and Tia got on one turbolift. Picard, Tora and Tony got on the other as others moved in to take their places. "Let the log note that at this time I am transferring command to the battle bridge," Picard said. The turbolifts came out on the battle bridge and the crew took their positions.

"All decks reporting in Sir. All decks are ready for separation," Worf reported.

"Proceed," Picard said and turned to Tia at the helm. "Captain Tonrei said you had some kind of power. Could you use that to help us?"

"He makes me sound far more powerful than I am. I have telepathy and can conjure storms. Big storms but they won't be much help. A tornado doesn't just affect the enemy. Now Mishkah, another Ziannah, can control fire. That would be significantly more helpful. But of course he's not here."

"Well…" Tony started. Tia turned around violently.

"You're transporting Mishkah?" she demanded.

"Yes," Tony confirmed," but we can't get him here. It would require a mid warp transport, which I'm not willing to do. Or it would require dropping your shields once we get to the outpost which would be extraordinarily dangerous and would probably result in the immediate destruction of the ship."

Tora's monkey - like creature, Davin, chattered on her shoulder. "Shhh, it'll be fine," she comforted, petting the top of it's head. The ship arrived at the outpost. The Nebulan ship was already there.

"Sir, the Nebulan ship is hailing us," Worf said. Picard nodded his ascent. A woman with long brown hair appeared on the screen in the central chair. "They are not in the vicinity Captain. We've check for neutrino spikes in the area and there are none. They are gone and so is the outpost."

Thank you guys for reading! I would really appreciate it if you review because it's been awhile since I've written anything and I'm a little rusty. Any feedback would be great!


	6. Chapter 6: Minems

"Captain's Log Supplemental: There were no survivors of the Minem attack on the outpost. There were twenty people staffing it."

"This is completely uncharacteristic of the Minems," Tony said. The senior officers, Wesley, and the Nebulans were in the conference room, sitting around the conference table. The creatures that the Nebulans had brought aboard where huddled in a corner, joined now by Tia's dog-like creature. "It's us they're after. They have had no other enemies up 'til now and have had no reason to want other enemies. We give them enough to think about. I can't even guess as to why they're attacking you."

"Unless they know that I'm here," Tia spoke up, rotating back and forth in the chair, with pent up nervous energy.

"How could they know? We didn't even know," Tony combatted.

"I knew…" Tora said quietly. She was sitting to Tia's right and it took a minute for people to differentiate between the two.

"You… knew?" Tony asked hesitantly.

"How?" Tia asked.

"She was so miserable. When I was able to sneak into her room at night, I'd hug her as she cried herself to sleep. She was always so exhausted. I saw her get onto the shuttle before someone grabbed me and dragged me onto another shuttle. Then I saw the shuttle branch off. I figured it got away. I didn't feel a need to tell anyone about it." Tia rested her hand on her sisters and smiled at her, eyes filled with gratitude and renewed respect.

"Alright, we _will_ handle that later. But I still don't think the Minems could have known or they would have made a move before now. No, they're up to something," Tony said.

"Whatever it is, it's suicide. They can't beat both the Federation and us. They don't have those kinds of resources," Tia countered, brows furrowing. She rested her chin on her hands and stared intently at the gold replica of the _Enterprise_ on a shelf hanging against the back wall.

"What do they have against you guys?" Riker asked.

"The Minems are a rebel faction of the Nebulan Empire. We don't even know what they want anymore. At this point it appears they just like the fight," Tia explained.

"Could this be a rogue ship?" Riker questioned.

"I doubt it… If a ship went rogue the Minems would track it down and destroy it. No, most likely there is some plot we're missing. Either way, we need to deal with this ship." Tia walked over to the small view screen at the front of the room and pulled up a diagram of the Minem ship. "Their absolute weakest point is at the bottom of the ship, here," she said, pointing," Their engines are located there and their ships are so large that their shields weaken slightly the farther from the shield generator they get."

"That's a pretty distinct flaw," Picard said skeptically.

"Yes, it's one that we've over come. They focus their resources on weaponry while we've been focusing on defense. They may have better weapons but generally we're able to out last them when it comes down to it," Tony said.

"They may have weaker shields but they know it and they compensate for it. They go in quickly and take out the shields on opposing ships before the ship has time to fight back," Tia said.

"_That _will not happen," Worf asserted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It may be unavoidable. What we can do is cause as much damage as possible before that happens," Tia returned.

"Our ship will try to stay between the Minem's weapons and the _Enterprise_ as much as possible. Our shields and defenses are stronger. In the future, if this turns out to be a long term problem, we'll work on fitting your ships with some of our technology. We don't have that time now. Now we need a strategy," Tony said.

"The _Enterprise_ is distinctly more agile than Nebulan ships, due to it's smaller size. We stand a much better chance of getting under the Minems' ship than they do," Tia added. "I'm thinking our best bet is something simple. Tony's ship can draw the Minem's fire, we can come out from behind and use a warp jump to get under the Minem's ship. It's very possible that they will completely dismiss us and consider us non-threatening. They are extraordinarily arrogant."

"From what you have told us, the likelihood of that plan succeeding is quite slim," Data said.

"I don't have any other ideas. Any of you?" The room was silent.

"Alright, let's focus on responses for being boarded," Picard said.

"A majority of our security forces are here and prepared to fight Sir," Worf said.

"How many?" Riker asked.

"113."

"That's not enough," Tony spoke up. "We can supply you with some of our forces, even the score a bit. Best advice we can give you is don't try hand to hand combat with them. They are trained from the time they are very young and they have nasty weapons. Keep your distance and use phasers, and set the phasers to kill."

"We're not here to start a war," Picard said, concerned.

"They aren't going to pay you any respect or consideration Captain. They will not hesitate to cut your throat or kill any member of your crew. They've destroyed planets and massacred millions. This ship will just be another notch in their belts." The room was silent as everyone considered Tony's words.

"One… last thing," Tora said hesitantly, staring at her hands.

"Tora…" Tony warned.

"Go on," Tia encouraged, glaring at Tony.

"They'll have animals with them, like we do. We are telepathically connected to our animals. We can hear them talking in our minds just as clearly as we can hear you talking out loud. Every child is bonded with a creature at the age of six months. The baby is taken into the wild and left there for an average of six hours…"

"You leave six month old babies in the wild at the mercy of wild animals?" Riker exclaimed.

"It's perfectly safe. Generally they bond within the first hour and the animal protects them. The bond is extremely strong. If it is broken, it has detrimental effects on both the animal and the person. The animal generally dies within a few days and it can cause irreparable insanity in the person. We also can't stand to be far apart from them for extended periods of time, which is why the Minems will likely bring their animals when they board. Kill the animal, incapacitate the Minem."

"Captain," a voice came over the comm link," a large green ship just decloaked off our starboard bow."

"Decloaked? They don't have cloaking technology…" Tony trailed off, confused.

"Romulan?" Picard asked almost hopefully over the comm link.

"No Sir."

"Red alert!" Riker ordered. They all stood and walked out onto the battle bridge. The Minem ship was displayed on the view screen at the front of the room. It was visually identical to the Nebulan ship, only it was green instead of gold. The staff took their positions.

"Sir, the ship is hailing us, audio only," Worf said.

"Open a channel," Picard ordered. "I am Captain Jean - Luc Picard of the Federation…"

"We know who you are. Turn over the girl or be destroyed. You have one hour."

"They know," Tia whispered.


	7. Chapter 7: Surrender

The conference room was dark; illuminated only slightly by the stars twinkling through the windows. Tia stood, forehead resting against the window, feeling the soothing coolness against her face. Tony and Worf were overseeing the transfer of Nebulan security officers to the _Enterprise_, much to Worf's disapproval. He'd made that quite clear. The Nebulan transporters could cut through the _Enterprise's _shields. Tia felt completely useless. Captain Picard had temporarily relieved her of duty with the understanding that she'd act as a liaison between the _Enterprise_ and the Nebulans. So far they hadn't needed a liaison. She snuck away for a minute to gather herself and prepare for what she knew she had to do. She closed her eyes for a moment but was jerked back reality when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped. She hadn't heard anyone come in.

"Woah," Wesley said softly, wrapping his arms around her from behind. She turned and buried her face in his chest.

"I never meant for any of this to happen." Her voice was shaky. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"I know," he kissed the top of her head. "It's not your fault you know."

"Isn't it? I knew I was a target. I've always been a target. All of those people, the _Reagan_, the outpost, they were all destroyed to get to me. I just don't know how they knew I was alive. No one… well almost no one, knew I was alive. How did they know?" her voice steadily climbed in pitch, as it tended to do when she was upset. Wesley pulled her closer and stroked her hair.

"Shhh," he comforted.

"I can't lose you," she whispered, looking up at him, chin resting on his chest.

"You're not going to lose me. We'll get through this. We always do." He leaned down and kissed her deeply and she looked back up at him and smiled weakly. He had only tightened her resolve. She knew what she had to do.

—**TEN MINUTES LATER—**

"Ensign Karcas to Lieutenant Worf," the voice came over Worf's comm badge. Worf pressed the badge.

"Yes Ensign," Worf barked. He really didn't have time for this. It had become his job to oversee the transfer of Nebulans to the _Enterprise_. He didn't trust them. As far as he knew, they could be in league with the Minems. This could be an elaborate plot to gain the _Enterprise's _trust and take over the ship. They really didn't know anything about the Nebulans and yet they were being given almost completely free access to the ship, within reason of course. The Captain had said "desperate times calls for desperate measures," an old Earth saying that made no sense to the Klingon.

"Sir, there's a Nebulan knocked out in Engineering," the Ensign said. Worf ground his teeth and his jaw tensed. Tony looked up from his intense discussion with Captain Picard, surprised.

"On my way," Worf growled and walked to the turbolift.

"Excuse me Captain," Tony said and followed, accompanied by Commander Riker. The ride to Engineering was silent and tense. They had forty three minutes left before the Minems' attack. Tony had assured the Captain that, although they were many things, the Minems were true to their word and wouldn't attack before the hour was up unless provoked. That did nothing to ease the tension.

The Nebulan was slumped against the back wall of Engineering. He'd been overlooked during the chaos of preparing for the attack. "His transporter badge is missing…" Tony said, eyebrows furrowed. "All of my people have one, they wouldn't need to steal one. It must have been one of your people."

"Computer, is there anyone missing from the ship?" Riker called.

"Yes. Ensign Tia Mareña is no longer on board the _Enterprise_," the computer replied in it's even, unemotional, feminine voice. Tony pressed a button on the transporter badge he wore on his arm. He spoke quickly in a language the _Enterprise_ personnel didn't recognize. Tony tensed, hands curling into fists, fingernails digging into his palms.

"She beamed over to the Minem ship. She's turning herself in," he said through gritted teeth.

_Hey guys, I just wanted to warn you that the next chapter will probably be a bit more violent than previous chapters. It'll have some torture in it and an account of the violent death of… someone. I'm not going to up the rating of the overall story just read on with care. Please review! I'm still getting back into writing so I really need feedback! Thanks for reading!_


	8. Chapter 8: Capture

The Minem ship was bathed in a deep pulsating green light, the Minems' version of red alert. Tia looked around. The corridor she had transported into was deserted, as she expected. She was crew quarters corridor and she knew the crew would be otherwise occupied. The layout of Minem ships were the same as Nebulan ships, so she knew her way around. She had a plan… formulating. What she had so far depended so completely on luck that she knew it was bound to fail. Instantaneous plans were not her strong suit. The first step, which was as far as she'd gotten, was to find a enlisted or low ranking officer that was her size and low enough on the totem pole that people wouldn't notice they'd been replaced. Her plan was to steal that someone's uniform and impersonate them long enough to figure out the next part of her plan. Easy, no problem at all. To her right was a concealed entrance to a jefferies tube that led above the corridor. She had found it on a Nebulan ship while exploring and hiding from her gaurds. There were several easily removable grates along the ceiling of the corridor which would give her a good view and easy access to the corridor while keeping her out sight. She slid the wall panel back, folded her wings tightly to her body, and slid into the tunnel. She put the panel back in its place and climbed up the ladder, into the main tunnel above the corridor. She took her position over one of the grates.

"Alright Arbitrators," she muttered under her breath," I know I haven't exactly been… loyal to you and to the path you chose for me but I could really, really use some help right now." She sat in the dark for a time, wondering how much time had passed, how much time was left before the attack, and if anyone would walk by at all. There was no doubt in her mind that if the Minems attacked the _Enterprise_ would be destroyed. She could not allow that to happen.

She heard voices coming down the hallway. Two young women were walking towards Tia's position, talking in hushed voices. One was blonde and about Tia's size. Her hair was shoulder length, which wasn't even a fourth of the length of Tia's hair. Few species wore their hair at the length of Nebulan women's because it was such an utter pain to deal with. She would have to settle. The brunette stopped at a door, waved goodbye to the blonde and entered the room. The door closed with a hiss. The blonde continued down the hall, getting closer and closer to Tia's position. Tia slipped her shoes off and quietly moved the grate. The blonde passed under her and Tia jumped silently to the ground, right behind the blonde. She snuck up behind the girl, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. The girl's mouth opened slightly in surprise but before she could utter a sound, Tia punched her hard across the jaw. The girl went down, unconscious. "Thank you Arbitrators," Tia muttered, dragging the girl back into the tunnel in the wall. She traded clothes with the girl and fashioned her hair into a tight, braided bun so it didn't seem so long. "Okay. You've got this," Tia murmured to herself, taking a deep breath and stepping back out into the corridor. She headed toward engineering, struggling to maintain a calm exterior. She got on a turbolift, which was thankfully empty. "[_Deck 13, section 67_]."* The turbolift doors opened and she stepped into the bustling engineering section. It was about twice the size of the _Enterprise's_ engineering section. Three levels high and circular with 250 foot diameter. The walls were covered in jefferies tube access panels, as all of the tunnels on the ship connected to engineering. There was no warp core in the center of the room, as there was on the _Enterprise_. Instead it was in a separate room on deck 14 that could be jettisoned at any time if the need arose. People hardly entered that room, as most maintenance could be done electronically from engineering. Glowing stations jutted from the walls and were placed in seemingly random places around the room. Overall, most of engineering was empty space, as most things could be done at random locations around the ship. It wasn't nearly as efficient as having everything in one place, as on the _Enterprise_. However, from engineering you could reach almost any place on the ship using the jefferies tubes and it was the only place on the ship from which you could set a self destruct command. She knew exactly how to hack into the system and she could do it in less than five minutes. She had done it often to hide her location on the ship she'd been placed on as Ziannah. Unless the Minems had changed their operating systems, which she doubted, she could set a self destruct program in motion that no one could shut down.

No one seemed to notice her arrival. She walked over to a command station and began building the program. They had increased security in the systems but she was able to break through. It took her a bit longer than she expected, although she didn't know how much longer. She knew there wasn't much time left. She closed her eyes and typed in random letters and numbers for the termination code, so not even she would be able to stop the program. "Amandēs," she whispered. Sirens wailed. "[_Self destruct sequence initiated. Self destruct will occur in 20 minutes_]." Tia smiled slightly. Voices rose to shouts around her. Someone grabbed her by her hair and yanked her back. She cried out and kicked blindly behind her. Her foot connected with what she guessed was a knee and she heard a loud crack and a cry. Something smashed over her head. She saw stars and she fell.

When she woke, she was in a large white room. She was sitting in a metal chair with both of her hands chained to the arm rests. A large man, approximately 6'8" in height stood above her. He had matted brown hair that fell in tangles to his shoulders. Scars covered his bared arms and chest. When he saw she was awake he sneered down at her. The room shook and she could only assume that the vessel was under attack. The battle had begun. "[_Self destruct will occur in fourteen minutes eleven seconds_]," the mechanical voice of the computer said.

"I know who you are," he said in accented english," They don't. But I do." Tia said nothing, just stared up at him, carefully keeping her face completely devoid of emotion. "You weren't even the target," he leered," we wanted the time traveler Ziannah. You're just a happy accident." He slapped her across the face, hard, leaving a burning red mark. She just looked back at him, biting the inside of her lip to keep from making a sound. Her lack of response seemed to anger him. "You look just like your mother. I had the pleasure of killing her to. That is how I know who you are." He dragged the knife across her cheek. Silvery blue blood oozed from the wound. No response. He glowered at her. He pulled out a knife and jammed it into her hand. She gritted her teeth against the sudden pain as blood welled up around the knife. "Still no response?" he asked, a grin spreading across his face. He pressed a glowing red button on the hilt of the knife. Electricity tore through her body and she convulsed. Seconds turned to hours and her vision went white. All she knew was pain. She heard screaming but it took her a second to realize it was her. It stopped and she slumped in the chair. She turned her head to the side and retched. She tasted blood in her mouth and realized she had bitten through her tongue. She stared up at the man, chest heaving. He looked satisfied enough. He got down on his knees so they were on an equal eye level. "That's better," he grinned. She said nothing. "I don't care if you give me the override code. I don't care if this ship blows. I've been waiting for the moment for a long, long time. Your mother was stubborn too. She didn't say a word the entire time I was with her. She never said where you were. You should be proud."

"[_Self destruct will occur in eleven minutes twenty - seven seconds_]."

"I made her death last. It took her three hours to die. Three hours and forty - seven minutes. I remember every person I've ever killed. I make a point of that. She was feisty. She fought back. She kicked. She screamed. But I broke her. In the end they always, always break." His face was an inch away from Tia's and she could smell his putrid breath. "The other Minems think you're dead. If they knew who you were, they wouldn't let me kill you. But I will kill you very, very slowly." She spat in his face, a mixture of saliva and blood. He jumped back, livid. He yanked the knife from her left hand and plunged it into her right. She closed her eyes. She knew what was coming. She screamed as the pain tore through her body again and found herself hoping for death.

"[_Self destruct will occur in eight minutes fifty eight seconds_]."

*[_Translated from Nebulan_]

_**Hey guys, I hope that wasn't too bad. As of right now I'm pretty sure that's the worse it's going to get. Please review! It'll make me happy! Thanks for reading!**_


	9. Chapter 9: Rescue

**_Warning: This chapter contains some graphic material. It's a description of the wounds resulting from the torture in the previous chapter. It's not bad, I just don't want to be reported. Thanks for reading!**_

Tony rubbed his temples, eyes closed. "I'll have to go get her," he sighed.

"No. You'll _have_ to stay here," Tora ordered. "You are still Captain and we're about to go into battle. I will go get her."

"Absolutely not…" Tony began, drawing himself to his full height and flexing his wings slightly.

"Tony I am twenty - three years old and an officer on your ship. I am not just your little sister anymore and I am certainly not the little girl that Mom told you to protect. I can handle myself and so can Tia. Now you have a responsibility to your crew and no one else is better suited for this job than I am. If you order me not to go, then I won't go but make that decision based on my skill set and not that I'm your sister," Tora snapped. Tony stared at her in shock. She had never challenged his authority before. She was the quiet one, the one who always did what she was told, never argued and hardly ever offered her opinion. Tia was the hard-headed, stubborn twin with the problem with authority.

"I… uh… well…" She glared at him. "Go," he said finally, deflated. "But take Horren and Jakeson with you."

"I'll go," Wesley volunteered urgently, struggling to conceal how worried he really was.

"You don't have wings," Tony replied, glancing at him.

"It's easy enough to make him seem like he has wings. I know how to telepathically alter the perception of appearance, just like Tia did," Tora said.

"I'll go as well," Riker asserted, making it clear there was no debate in the matter. Tony just nodded, still looking perplexedly at Tora. Tony pressed a button on the communicator/transporter band around his arm.

"Horren and Jakeson to the bridge," he ordered. Two tall, well muscled Nebulans materialized on the bridge. One was a red head, freckled with golden wings. The other was a brunette with black wings. They exchanged words with Tony in Nebulan.

"We… go… now?" the brunette asked in heavily accented, broken English. Tora nodded and reached for the band on her arm, to transport them to the Minem ship.

"Sir!" Worf broke in. Picard turned to him.

"Yes Mr. Worf," he said.

"The self destruct system has been activated on the Minem ship," Worf told them. "The ship will be destroyed in approximately twenty minutes."

"You have fifteen Number One," Picard said, turning to Riker. "Then I want you back here."

"Yes Sir." Tora grabbed his arm and the red head grabbed Wesley's. Riker felt a tingling sensation, like a warmth spreading from his core to the tip of his fingers. The world went dark for a second and then was filled with a brilliant green light. Alarms rang in his ears. He had to blink a few times before the ship focused around him.

"We locked onto the signal of her _Enterprise_ comm badge," Tora explained. "The signal is coming from behind that bulkhead. Riker pulled out his phaser and Horren and Jakeson pulled out what appeared to be some sort of disruptor. They both took positions down either end of the hall, keeping watch. Tora removed the panel and stuck her head into the tunnel. "It's not her," she called, backing out and replacing the panel. "She switched uniforms with someone. You would think she would've kept the comm badge."

"Do you have a plan?" Riker asked her.

"We can track her telepathic signature. That's Horren's specialty. See, because we're twins, Tia and I share the same telepathic signature. So Horren, even though he's never tracked Tia before, just has to track my signature to a place that isn't, well, here." She walked to Horren, who had taken a position to the left of the team. She spoke to him in Nebulan and he handed her the disruptor. He put his hands to his temples and closed his eyes. They stood there for what felt like minutes but was probably only a few seconds. The alarm paused for a moment and was replaced by a cool, female voice speaking Nebulan. Then the alarms resumed. Horren started down the hallway and Tora motioned for the team to follow. Two Minems shoved their way passed them, shouting. Wesley's breath caught in his throat but the Minems didn't seem to notice that anything was amiss. They followed Tora and Horren down the hallway and onto a turbolift. The turbolifts on the Minem ship were significantly larger than those on the _Enterprise_ and fit all of them easily.

"[_Deck 13 section 37_]*" Horren said. The turbolift began moving and then stopped and a Minem got on. Tora discreetly moved between Riker and the Minem as the turbolift began moving again.

'_Remember_," Riker heard her voice in his head,' _Don't let him touch you. You don't really have wings and he'll realize that_." Wesley and Riker inched slightly away. The doors open and the team calmly filed out, careful not to make eye contact with the Minem. They didn't need Horren to track Tia anymore. They could hear her screams from down the hallway as if they were in the same room. Wesley shoved passed them and sprinted to the room at the end of the hall. "Wesley!" Tora called and the others ran after him. The doors slid open and they were met with the smell of vomit and blood. The man leaning over Tia jumped and spun around in surprise. He lunged for Wesley but Horren knocked Wesley aside and both Horren and Jakeson hit the man with disruptor beams. The man mouth opened in surprise as he was vaporized.

"My God," Riker breathed. Tia sat slumped forward in the chair, practically naked, wearing only a bra and underwear. The only thing keeping her in the chair at all were the wrist straps and the strap around her stomach. Silvery-blue blood seeped from wounds that covered her face, upper arms and stomach. The blood had pooled on the floor. Her left wing was in tatters. It had been cut along the thin bone lines to about a forth of the way up the wing. The bottom of the wing was almost completely devoid of feathers and patches of pink showed through. Electrical burns ran up her arms, neck and face and down her legs. A knife was sticking out of her left hand and her right had clearly been stabbed through. Her right arm was clearly broken. Wesley knelt in front of her and cupped her face in his hand.

"Tia, Tia you have to wake up honey," he murmured.

"Wesley?" she said weakly. Riker undid her bonds and she slid to the floor with only Wesley holding her up. Another, shriller alarm went off and they could hear shouting down the hallway.

"They know we're here. We're going to have to fight our way out," Tora said urgently.

"Can't you just transport us out?" Riker asked. Horren and Jakeson ran out of the room and the sound of disruptor fire echoed through the hallway.

"No, there's special shielding around this section to keep us from transporting prisoners out. We have to go out that door and three hundred feet to the left."

"I can carry her," Wesley said, picking her up easily. Riker looked at him in surprise. "She can fly. She only weighs sixty-something pounds," Wesley explained.

"Let's go," Tora called," Horren and Jakeson are holding them off for now but they can't do it for long." The sounds of the disruptor discharges were distinctly closer. They set out running down the hallway. Disrupter beams shot passed them. One hit Riker on the shoulder and he clinched his teeth against the pain. Tora turned back sharply.

"I'm fine. Go!" Riker ordered. They reached the end of the section. Horren came running after them.

"Jakeson…" Tora began. Horren shook his head violently, clearly distressed. Horren grabbed Wesley and Tora grabbed Riker. Riker felt the same warm, tingling sensation he'd felt before and sickbay materialized around him. Riker stubbled slightly as the room spun around him. Tora tightened her grip on his arm. He saw Wesley laying Tia gently on a biobed as Doctor Crusher and several Nebulan doctors rushed to her side. A couple of Nebulan doctors walked over to Riker.

"He's been hit by a Jesanana disrupter," he heard Tora say but her voice sounded far away. The room continued to spin around him and he thought he was going to throw up. He felt hands on his shoulders leading him to a bed before he lost consciousness.

*[_Translated from Nebulan_]

**_Hey guys, thanks for reading so far. Please review! It'll make me happy!**_


	10. Chapter 10: Recovery

"They're back Captain," Worf shouted over the red alert sirens.

"Ensign get us out of here, warp seven," Picard ordered as the ship shook, taking another hit.

"The warp engines are not responding Sir," the helmsman replied, punching commands into the consul.

"Commander LaForge, we need warp power. Now!" Picard demanded.

"I can get you warp three at the most. Give me a few minutes." LaForge said over the comm link.

"The Minem ship will self destruct in five minutes and twenty-seven seconds Sir," Worf said.

"You have two Commander," Picard said. The bridge shook again. One of the helm station exploded. The helmsman fell from the chair and lay on the ground. Blood pooled around his head. Lights popped and sparks showered down.

"Damage report!" Picard shouted.

"Shields down to 15%. Life support is failing. I'm switching to secondary systems. Casualty reports are coming in from all over the ship. They're firing again!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Picard ordered.

"The Nebulan ship intercepted the shots."

LaForge's voice crackled over the damaged comm link. "You have warp 2.5 but only for a minute. Any longer and the warp engine will be in danger of overloading."

"Mr. Data, warp 2.5 anywhere but here."

"Yes Captain." The damaged ship shuttered as it jumped forward. It slowly fell out of warp.

"I'm sorry Captain but that's all I can give you. Anymore and we'd be risking a warp core breach," LaForge said.

"Thank you Mr. LaForge. Put the Minem ship on the viewscreen." The ship appeared. The Nebulan ship let off one last shot before jetting off after the _Enterprise_. The Minem ship grew steadily brighter and brighter before exploding.

"So it's done then," Tora said, crossing her arms and rubbing them as if cold. "It all seemed to easy," she whispered. Picard looked at her.

"Do you think there are more?" he asked.

"No… No, I don't think so. If there were they'd all have attacked together. The Minems don't plan well. They're brute force people, not all that bright. No, I think they got what they wanted. Or found that what they wanted was out of their reach."

"And they just allowed their ship to be destroyed?" Worf asked skeptically.

"Either they completed their mission or failed at it. Their deaths were either planned as a part of the mission or was their punishment."

"Sir, the Nebulan ship is hailing us," Worf said.

"Open a channel." Tony appeared on the screen.

"How's my sister?" he asked, voice shaking. "Is she… alive?" Picard pressed his comm badge.

"Doctor Crusher?"

"Yes Captain?"

"What's the status of the away team?"

"One of the Nebulans was killed. Commander Riker was hit by some sort of disrupter that is attacking and shutting down his nervous system. Ensign Marenna has been beaten up pretty badly and is in critical condition. One of her wings has been shredded. We're working on stabilizing her and Commander Riker now. We have several Nebulan doctors assisting us. We don't know much yet but I'll alert you when we do."

"Thank you Doctor."

Tony let out a shaky breath. "How bad is the damage to your ship? Do you need help with repairs?"

"I think we have repairs under control for the time being. However, if you'd like to come aboard and wait for Ensign Marenna to come out of surgery, you are welcome here."

"Thank you Captain. I'll be there momentarily. Tora?"

"Yes?"

"I'm putting you in charge of overseeing the transport of people back to the ship."

"Alright."

"And Tora?"

"Yes?"

"Good job," he said with a weak smile. Tora grinned as Tony's picture was replaced by the image of the Nebulan ship.

~~ Later~~

Wesley paced back and forth in his room. His mother had banished all non-medical personnel from Sickbay as they operated on Tia and Riker and treated others' injuries. He sunk down on the couch and placed his head in his hands. It had been just over five hours with no word. The _Enterprise _was severely damaged. The attack had begun when Tia activated the self-destruct sequence. The _Enterprise_ put up a hell of a fight, as she always did but she had been badly damaged in the attack. The _Enterprise_ hadn't been able to get far enough away from the explosion of the Minem ship and had been further damaged in the explosion. She was now running on impulse only, weapons systems were down, and there were no shields. Seven people had died from onboard explosions: three Nebulans and four crewmen. There were a number of injuries.

He heard the door buzzer. "Come in," he called, looking up. His mother walked in and he stood. "How is she?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing in anxiety.

"She's going to be fine. We took care of the burns and the damage caused by the knife and the electrical charges. We reconstructed her wing. She won't be able to fly until her feathers grow back, which should take about a month. But she is going to be absolutely fine. She's sleeping and you can see her later," Doctor Crusher assured him. Wesley sunk back down on the couch, hands shaking.

"I should have realized what she was doing," Wesley muttered.

"She's used to hiding things from us. It's what she does," Beverly said, sitting beside him and resting a hand on his shoulder.

"She's not like that Mom!" Wesley exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pacing again, back and forth across the room. "To her she was facing a fate worse than death. She had no freedom. She was trapped among people who cared nothing about her, only about what she was becoming. And that was the life she was faced with, a lifetime of people worshipping her but never really caring. She did what she had to do. Could you live like that?" he demanded.

"No. No I suppose not," Beverly sighed. Wesley stopped and turned to her.

"How's Commander Riker?" he asked. Beverly lips thinned into a line.

"The disrupter beam he was hit with contains microns, which eat away at the nervous system, slowly paralyzing the body until they reach the brain. His injuries are beyond our treatment but the Nebulans have technology to deal with it. They say his chances are better since he got medical attention so quickly."

"But you don't know."

"No. I don't know," Beverly said. She stood up, grabbed Wesley's hand, squeezed it and gave him a strained, comforting smile. "I have to go back now. I just wanted to give you an update."

"When can I see her?" Wesley asked.

"Give her a couple of hours of rest. Then come to sickbay and you can sit with her." Wesley nodded his assent. Beverly left and Wesley stared at the wall for a minute but quickly became restless. He walked out into the hallway and hesitated. He wasn't entirely sure where he wanted to go. He reached the turbolift and got on.

"Um… Deck 10." Ten Forward had a nice view. The walk there didn't really register on his mind. He took a seat at a table and stared blankly out the window at the stars. The Enterprise was still for the moment so the stars were sparkling pin points of light instead of streaks, blurred against black.

"Can I sit?" Wesley jumped slightly, torn from his revery. Tony stood on the opposite side of the table, staring down at him. Wesley nodded and Tony sat across from him. They stared at each other, sizing each other up. Wesley waited. Clearly Tony had something to say. Tony leaned forward and rested his hands on the table. "Okay look," Tony said finally. "I'm not going to give you a whole 'hurt her and I'll hurt you speech' because we both know that if you do hurt her, there's very little that I can do. But my sister's been through hell. She watched our father die. She watched everything she knew burn around her twice and she blames herself for it. She's been through so much and she needs people around her that she can depend on. If that's you, then great. But if it's not, then end it. Now. Don't drag her along."

"I am absolutely someone she can depend on," Wesley asserted, fingers gripping the table so hard that they were turning white. "I would never hurt her. Never. I love her."

"Does she know that?"

"Of course."

"Have you _told _her that?"

"I… uh… no. No I haven't," Wesley said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Well think about it. It's something I think she could use hearing right now," Tony advised as he stood. He turned and walked away as Wesley looked after him.

_Does Tia get to stay with the Enterprise? Remember, she lied her way into Starfleet and she has an empire to run! Find out in the last chapter! Sorry this took so long. It was exam week. Please review! I could really use feedback! Thanks for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11: End

_Two Weeks Later_

Wesley walked into Sickbay and glanced around. It had emptied out for the most part and only half of the biobeds were in use. Three Nebulan doctors and his mother were grouped around a biobed, which he assumed was Riker's. Wesley glanced at Riker's vital signs displayed on a large viewscreen. They were stable, but not what they should be. Tia was sitting up on her biobed, dressed in a sea-green gown, leaning back against the wall. She watched Riker's vitals carefully, brows furrowed. She smiled when she saw Wesley. He walked over and kissed her lightly and hugged her to him. She winced slightly. He released her quickly and studied her closer. Her left wing was bare starting about 3/4 of the way down. There were additional bare patches on her right wing, showing thin pink skin, bulging where bones ran through it. Angry pink scars ran down her arms and across her cheeks. She covered her cheeks with her hands. "Doctor Crusher says the feathers on my wings will grow back and with another treatment, which she'll give me tomorrow, the scars will be gone," she said.

Wesley gently moved her hands away from her face. He touched his forehead to hers, their signal that she could read his thoughts. _You are beautiful_, he thought. She smiled, blushed and kissed him again. She then looked back over at Riker, brows furrowing again.

"Will he be alright?" she whispered. Wesley looked over at his vitals.

"He's stable. He should be fine," he assured her.

"Jesanana disrupters are brutal. They didn't have any kind of treatment when I was on Nebula. When I was twelve, I visited the injured from a Minem attack on a Nebulan ship. It was the first time we'd seen Jesanana disruptors used. They were in a separate ward, to protect me I guess. But I got lost… And walked in… They wouldn't stop screaming…" she shuttered and stared unseeingly at the view screen with Riker's vitals, lost in horrific memories. Wesley cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes.

"Hey, come back to me," he whispered.

"Sorry," she said with a weak smile. "I'm fine," she added, reading the concern in his eyes.

"Now I'm going to tell you something," Wesley said.

"Okay…" she said slowly.

"And you don't need to say anything in return. Not if you don't want to."

"What is it?"

"No reading my mind. No telepathy."

"Alright."

"Okay, here it goes. I love you. More than anything in the universe. The day you asked me to the Sadie Hawkins Dance is the happiest day in my life. After I got over the shock that the most beautiful and popular woman at the Academy was asking me to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. I didn't even think that you knew who I was." She looked at him, grinning, eyes glittering.

"I love you to," she replied, smiling. "And Honey, I was your ex-girlfriend's rebound relationship. I knew who you were. Very very well."

"Well I'm glad you did," Wesley laughed.

—

Captain Picard sat in his ready room, staring at the viewscreen on his desk, waiting. Any minute, Starfleet Command would call him with their verdict on Ensign Tehera (Tia) Marenna. If she were any normal officer who'd lied on their Starfleet application, she would have been court marshaled. He'd seen a young officer's career ruined for a smaller lie than hers. But she wasn't any normal officer. She was the leader of an empire with technology far more advanced than that of Starfleet. Starfleet wanted that technology. Politics. Picard hated politics. He needed to be able to trust his crew and he couldn't trust her. However, he had a feeling what Starfleet Command's decision would be and he didn't like it.

He didn't have long to wait. "Sir, there's a transmission for you from Starfleet Command, restricted channel."

"I'll take it in here, Mr. Worf," Picard said. The Starfleet emblem appeared on the viewscreen and was replaced by the image of an older woman, red hair up in an elaborate bun on top of her head.

"Hello Jean-Luc," she acknowledged formally.

"Admiral O'Riley. How are you?"

"Well enough. We have something to discuss Jean-Luc."

"Yes we do."

"I'm going to get right to the point. Ensign Marenna will remain a member of your crew."

"Admiral, a crew is built on trust and I'd be hard pressed to find anyone on board who can trust her now. She lied to everyone. If she was any other officer in the same situation…"

"But she is not any other officer. Like it or not, she's the leader of the Nebulan Empire, which has the potential to be a very powerful ally. Their warp drives can reach up to warp 10. They no longer use trilithium, and yet their third planet is rich in the mineral. We need trilithium Jean-Luc. We don't want to risk alienating Ensign Marenna and the potential trade and information exchange that she controls and we believe that you are the best person to watch her and encourage her to make the right decisions."

"You want me to manipulate her into making decisions that suit you?" Picard snapped. The admiral said nothing. "I will not abuse my influence as her commanding officer in that way."

"Starfleet Command will remain in contact with you. Keep us advised. That will be all." The admiral was replaced by the Starfleet emblem again and the screen went dark. Picard closed his eyes and let out a long breath. He couldn't believe what they were asking of him. Damn politics.

"Commander Riker report to my ready room," Picard said over the comm link. Riker walked in after a few seconds.

"What's the verdict Sir?" he asked.

"She's remaining on the _Enterprise_, with all of the duties and responsibilities that go with her rank."

"Seriously?" Riker exclaimed, taken aback. "Permission to speak freely Sir," he requested, leaning forward and placing his hands on the back of one of the chairs.

"I'm afraid that it won't matter Number One. These are direct orders from Starfleet Command. Ones that we can't ignore."

"Yes Sir," Riker replied, clearly unhappy with the decision. "Will you tell her?"

"Yes. I believe that would be best."

"I'll be on the bridge if you need me."

"Acknowledged." Riker left and went back to the bridge. Picard sighed.

"Computer, is Ensign Marenna still in Sickbay?" he asked.

"Ensign Marenna left Sickbay at 1400 hours. Ensign Marenna is on deck seven," the cool, emotionless voice of the computer replied. Picard pressed his comm badge.

"Captain Picard to Ensign Marenna."

"Yes Sir?"

"Report to my ready room at your convenience," Picard ordered.

"I'm on my way now Sir," she said. She arrived in his ready room a surprisingly short amount of time. Picard conjectured that she had probably run the majority of the way. She shifted her weight awkwardly. "Yes Sir?"

"Sit down Ensign." Picard motioned her to the chair and took his place behind his desk. She folded her hands in her lap and looked at him anxiously. "Ensign… You lied to get here. There are hundreds of men and women who go through the Academy who would do anything for a position on a galaxy class starship. Plenty of which have not broken my trust."

"Captain I…"

"Let me finish Ensign!" Picard barked.

"Yes Sir," Tia said quietly.

"However, I have a glowing character reference from Wesley Crusher, a man who I do very much trust. You graduated top of your class at the Academy and despite everything, you have earned your place on this ship. It'll be difficult. You'll have to earn back our trust and people aren't going to treat you the same as before. People are going to be intimidated by your position. Your brother has agreed to allow you to stay on board as long as you hold a subspace meeting once a week with the other leader to discuss state affairs. I trust that will not interfere with your duties."

"I can do it Captain, I promise. I won't let you down again," she grinned.

"See to that Ensign. Dismissed."

_Author's Note: The end! Thanks for reading! I'm going to try to start with a sequel within the month but I don't really know what I want to do yet. If you have any ideas or anything you want to see happen let me know! Pleaseeeee review. Thank you!_


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